COLUMBUS — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day met with reporters on the second signing day of the 2020 recruiting cycle. He answered questions about his recruiting class as well as his current Buckeye team. The highlights of what he had to say can be found below.
+ They will give Cameron Martinez a shot on offense or defense when he arrives, which is rare for a true freshman. They will also look at him in the return game.
+ The early signing day is tough because you’ve got the postseason and the awards circuits, but it has taken a lot of pressure off of January.
+ Day had a meeting with Greg Mattison, Kerry Coombs, and Larry Johnson and it will be up to them to figure out who will be upstairs and downstairs and who will be calling the plays. Kerry will walk out of the room with the final say.
+ When Day arrived from the NFL, they added crossing patterns because it was the right thing at the right time. The defensive staff will need to do the same thing and bring things that are perfect for what the defense is trying to do.
+ Still waiting to hear if CJ Saunders will be granted a sixth year.
+ OSU had to walk away from some recruits at the end because they didn’t have any more room.
+ In recruiting, they tell players that they will be going against the best players in the nation every day and that is only going to make them better. Jeff Okudah was helped made great by Terry McLaurin. Your development happens faster when you’re going against great players.
+ Julian Fleming is physical. He’s big and strong and mature. The work matters to him.
+ Cameron Martinez could be a running back. He has the ability to do that. They will start him out at H.
+ The early signees arrived at the same time the team was returning from the Fiesta Bowl, so they felt like they lost the game as well and it is driving them in winter workouts.
+ They will stick with the single-high safety defense they used last year and see where that goes in the spring. They will adapt and evolve.
+ Day understood Cameron Martinez needing more time. Day told him he was going to go out and hire the best coach in the country and Kerry Coombs was his No. 1 pick.
+ Kicker Jake Seibert may or may not be on scholarship this year, just depending on if they have room for him.
+ Mookie Cooper is an inside receiver who can operate in short areas. There has to be a toughness to the slot receivers. They all need an edge.
+ Too early to know if Paris Johnson will start on the left or right side. Johnson’s mindset is that he is competing for a starting job.
+ The cornerback coverage will be a combination of coverages as it was last year.
+ There is a lot less coffee in the building now that Kerry Coombs is back. He’s drinking about four pots of coffee a day. He’s got great energy and the guys feed off of that and the message he is sending.
+ The competition between Jack Miller and CJ Stroud won’t be any different than if they were in different classes. They will get reps and be exposed to high-level development.
+ Always had a lot of respect for what Kerry Coombs did in his first go-round at OSU. Coombs wants to be here for a long time. He’s tasted the NFL and hopefully he wants to be at OSU from now on.
+ All of the freshmen have a shot to get into the two-deep at receiver this year.
+ It’s important to find a replacement for KJ Hill and they’re going to give several players a look. Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Mookie Cooper, Jaelen Gill, Cameron Martinez, and possibly CJ Saunders will all be involved.
“Kerry will walk out of the room with the final say.” Not sure what that means. Is he the DC now? Day should be mindful he has older coaches in Johnson and Mattison and pigeonholing them could speed up their tenure.
Glad to hear Martinez will be explored on offense (at both RB and H). Makes perfect sense. Very good chance he could surprise at RB. He will likely be somewhere between 195 and 198 by the end of his freshman year…which is a great size for a college RB (especially if paired with a big RB).
I believe that Day did name Coombs as DC upon his return.
Got it. That makes sense then.
Watch the Coombs viedo they just posted. He is the DC but he explained how it’s going to work.